Vitamin of the Week: Lilian Ohanessian (Sydney)

Coming from a design background herself, Agent Lilian Ohanessian likes keeping her finger on the pulse of the Sydney's thriving creative industry.

From who’s presenting at Creative Mornings to “who’s looking” at her morning staff meeting, Lilian loves nothing better than working with creatives and building amazing relationships. (She also admits to really love hanging out with her cat).

What made you want to work at Vitamin T? I wanted to work here because I was excited about the prospect of working WITH the creative industry instead of WITHIN the creative industry. Having come from a high pressure creative management role, I was looking for something that still kept me in with the creative networks, but allowed for me to have a better work-life balance. Specifically a place where I could still keep my finger on the pulse of Sydney’s creative industry. I found it! Vitamin T has a fantastic social environment where I get to help amazing talent get great opportunities.

What’s the BEST thing someone can do when looking for a job? I've got two things!

Build Your Personal Brand. As a creative, I think building your personal brand is vital to getting the kind of role which resonates with you most. It also helps direct where you want to take your career. If there are certain skills/sectors/professional environments in which you want to be perceived as an expert in—or are very passionate about—communicate those through your folio. Showcase and highlight the projects which most reflect the type of work you would like to get. Once you understand how your personal brand is perceived, you can start crafting and refining a strategic approach to attract the right kind of opportunities.

Cleanse & Build Your Online Presence. In this day and age, Google is the first call to action for a lot of things. Google yourself and check what perception could be made from a simple search on the most popular social platforms. Then ask yourself, “Is this a good representation of myself?” If not, get cleaning! Other than your folio via an application, this is a screening process available to anyone. You can simply manage your online visibility by controlling your accounts, the type of work history displayed, and photos which might come up. If there are projects that you don’t want people to see, update! This is not to say remove all fun photos. Rather, make sure what is out there for public viewing could not be of detriment to a potential opportunity.

As a 5 year old, what did you want to be when you grew up? A singer! I grew up singing Elvis, Michael Jackson, George Michael...anything random that was being played in our house. Even songs on kids’ TV shows, in a really animated and dramatized way. Embarrassing, I know!

What’s one important skill every person should have and why? Listening. I think it’s vital to be a good listener as it’s a skill of great significance in all aspects of our lives—from maintaining our personal relationships to getting our jobs done (don’t forget taking notes in class and figuring out which bus to take to the airport). Regardless of how we're engaged with listening, it's important to understand that it involves more than just hearing the words that are directed at us. You need to make sure you give people the opportunity to express their thoughts, opinions and points in full; make sense of what is being said; and assessing and responding to what you hear adequately.

If you could invent an app, what would it be and why? This probably exists....but not in Sydney. Yet. I think there should be an app that allows you to order your coffee 15 minutes before you get to the cafe, so when you arrive, you can simply pick up your takeaway. Coffee on the Go. This would be ideally Monday to Friday service. You could pop by a cafe without having to wait for the peak hour queues which usually take about 10 - 15 minutes. Cafes would just need to register to be on the app and users will have to agree to pay prior to pick up. :D

What most excites you about your work and the contribution you make? I think finding amazing roles for talent who don't see their full potential. Sometimes all we need is a little bit of mentoring and direction. Seeing a great partnership form between client and talent, where both parties can grow and develop, is really exciting and rewarding.